Police have arrested a Nevada county official in connection to the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, the Review-Journal reported Wednesday. The arrest comes 3 days after German was killed in a stabbing.
Robert Telles was arrested soon after police served a warrant on his home and vehicle early Wednesday evening. Telles, a Clark County public administrator, had accused German of “smearing” his reputation in a series of investigative articles ahead of the June 2022 primary. Telles lost the primary but will remain in office until December.
A GMC Yukon Denali spotted in security footage of the fatal stabbing led police to Telles, and an SUV matching that description was towed from Telles’ driveway as police searched his house.
Telles was home at the time the warrant was served, but did not comment to Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Brett Clarkson about why police had towed his vehicle or if he was involved in the murder.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that German was working on a new story about Telles the week he was stabbed to death. German had previously written about Telles’ alleged bullying, favoritism and an inappropriate office relationship with a subordinate.
As one local new channel put it, Telles’ campaign was “mired in controversy.” In June, he lashed out at German in a series of tweets, including one in which he wrote that the reporter was probably writing “lying smear piece #4” about him.
Telles, who is a Democrat, was elected for a four-year-term as a public administrator in late 2018. Despite losing his primary in 2022, his elected term runs through December.
